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26
amongst the lowest classes, partly from the hereditary tendency
to mortal disease being less, and partly on account of the care
and attention bestowed upon, and the provision of all the
necessaries of life provided for children of the upper classes.
As we have a much larger proportion of working and poor
population now than we had twenty years and more ago, we
should expect, in the ordinary course of things, that the
mortality of young children would have increased year by year.
An increase has taken place since 1856-65, when the death rate
to total deaths was only 21 per cent. of the total deaths, against
24.3 in 1866-75; 24.4 in 1876-83. This year, in consequence
of the number of deaths from small-pox, whooping cough and
diarrhoea, the proportion of deaths at this age period has
increased to 23.4 under 1 year, and 17.4 between 1 and 5,
making the total deaths under 5 years to be 40.8 per cent. of
the deaths at all ages. There was also an excess of deaths at
the age period of 5—15 years, for which unvaccinated cases of
small-pox is chiefly responsible, as the large number of 55
deaths from this disease occurred in children under 15 years of
age amongst the unvaccinated, against 11 who were known to
he vaccinated, and of 41 whose vaccination was doubtful. Now
as the unvaccinated do not, so far as I can ascertain, constitute
more than about 4, or say 5 per cent. of the population, it is
evident that many unnecessary deaths have occurred. As the
total number of deaths from small-pox at 0—15 was only 103,
if the proportion of deaths of unvaccinated children had been
pro rata to the number of unvaccinated persons living, we
should not have had more than 5 or 6 deaths instead of 55.
In other words, it seems to me that 50 persons have died at
these ages from small-pox, who would have been saved if they
had been vaccinated, and the death rate at these ages would
have been below the average instead of above it. The proportion
of deaths at other ages do not vary very much from the
average, except that the total deaths below 65 years of age was